North Carolina investigates police shooting of deaf driver

(Reuters) - North Carolina's top safety official has appealed to the public and the media not to rush to judgment over the fatal shooting of a deaf driver by a Highway Patrol trooper until an investigation is completed.

The motorist, Daniel Harris, 29, of Charlotte, was shot during a traffic stop last Thursday. The shooting occurred amid a national debate over the use of deadly force by police.

State Department of Public Safety Secretary Frank Perry said the incident was being reviewed by the district attorney, the Highway Patrol and the State Bureau of Investigation.

"Let us all refrain from making assumptions or drawing conclusions prior to the internal and independent reviews," Perry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The State Highway Patrol said in a statement that a trooper tried to pull over a motorist on Interstate 485 for speeding. The driver fled and after a brief pursuit pulled over and got out of his car.

There was an "encounter" with the officer where a shot was fired, the statement said. The driver died at the scene.

The trooper has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure.

Several news outlets, including the Charlotte Observer and CNN, have identified the driver as Harris and the trooper as Jermaine Saunders.

Harris' family has called for more specialized training in dealing with deaf drivers.

"The police need to become aware of how to communicate with deaf people, what that might look like and how to avoid situations like this from ever happening again," Harris' brother Sam, who also is deaf, told CNN affiliate WSOC through a sign-language interpreter.